Flight Safety Information April 5, 2010 - No. 068 In This Issue FAA error-reporting program reveals hazards Japan Airlines Restructures Operations Qantas plane grounded after window cracks Govt watchdog backs FAA whistle-blower FAA investigates JetBlue JFK tailstrike Spanair crash prompts FAA best practices list ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA error-reporting program reveals hazards, yields fixes By Alan Levin, USA TODAY A new error-reporting program in the nation's air-traffic system is revealing thousands of previously unknown hazards such as dangerous runway crossings and unreported midair problems. In the year and a half since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) kicked off the program - which guarantees employees immunity in exchange for honest accounts of all but the most serious lapses - the agency has been deluged by more than 14,000 reports, according to agency records reviewed by USA TODAY. The reports, which had not been widely released until now, have allowed the FAA to make numerous fixes to festering problems, such as improving signage at critical runway intersections, the agency says. It has also opened a window into what was widely suspected but could never be documented: that far more planes are sent on errant and potentially dangerous tracks than were ever officially reported. "This is a way for us to get new sets of eyes and ears in a lot of places," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said of the Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP). "I think everybody agrees there will be a safer system in the long run." According to ATSAP reports and interviews with FAA officials, the program has revealed: ˇAbout 45% of reports, or more than 6,000 since June 2008, are cases in which aircraft flew unapproved routes or came too close to another plane, and the lapse had not been reported through official channels. The cases are overwhelmingly minor, but they will allow the agency to target procedures to minimize risks. ˇIn late 2008, controllers began reporting numerous potentially dangerous cases of jets flying too fast as they departed to the south from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. "I have had six airplanes violate this speed all in the same day," reported one controller. "Saw major overtake luckily in time to maintain separation." A simple change to aviation charts fixed the problem. ˇBugs in sophisticated computerized autopilots are causing some jets departing from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to turn too close to other aircraft. Controller reports have helped lead to software changes. "To be honest, I am very surprised by the detail and passion of these reports," said Joseph Teixeira, the FAA safety official who oversees the ATSAP program. Many members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association were suspicious of the program initially, but have rapidly embraced it, said the union's safety chairman, Steven Hansen. Programs that encourage employees to openly discuss problems are seen as a key way to improve safety in an era when airline accidents are so rare. All major airlines have such programs, but contentious relations with controllers had prevented the FAA from adopting it for its own employees. ATSAP has not been without controversy and problems, Teixeira and Hansen said. There has been occasional disagreement over whether controllers who committed serious errors should be granted immunity, they said. However, many safety experts say the payoff of greater knowledge about risks is worth it. "It's a systematic attack on the human errors that are inevitable in a system, but were always shrugged off," said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, and a former controller. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-04-04-faa-error-reports_N.htm [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103270845366&s=6053&e=001ADQxSBjG7JXobM667qawEBRTVCwmHipnIyd9TpMdfw19X3ZPf7ktNovVBxlbD9R05m5olGgbVpM8nqsG3uW2uOMIX495wKXUaYJ59G9_FEke6eh61y-bZKrD8pORCDgVIHdBXxtd66_IdzyEe02RFiWlBYSmAtB-KaFybnE-Qv1LOl-0LcFyWP8dpab8qAJC] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Japan Airlines Restructures Operations Summary In an effort to cut costs and save the airline from entering the pages of history, Japan Airlines is matching its fleet cuts with route cuts. Analysis The decision to phase out its 747 fleet and indeed, drop its dedicated freighter services will not have been easy. On the other hand, it operates the fuel-efficient 777-300ER and remains committed to taking its full allocation of 787s too, but dropping a slew of routes will also help the airline back on the road to recovery. Focussing on frequency driven operations to key hubs like London Heathrow, Los Angeles and New York while extricating thousands of staff from its payroll, Japan Airlines can aim for better economies of scale through quicker turnarounds using smaller airplanes and drive efficiency into its operations at the stations it flies to. All Nippon Airways "will we, wont we" deliberations on launching am all new low cost airline in Japan could be impacted by Japan Airlines growing focus on the home market. This would aid its onewold alliance partner American Airlines a treat if their immunity pact is granted in the wake of the US-Japan Open Skies deal - Japan Airlines would still be able to offer competitive international services through its codeshare partners without incurring the associated costs. All of this though is dependent on whether the turnaround plan works as well in practice as it does on paper. http://www.glgroup.com/News/Japan-Airlines-Restructures-Operations-47558.html [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103270845366&s=6053&e=001ADQxSBjG7JVhKIRsyskX0zRA6HbzxXD8wL6iv6moTbDMR8cMMAtJgvebfd5PLTmpcvsFjbEu4CufRJ2Disf8wui09oDasMAQWsakzslwB0BMIXlnJ88vzDMapZQvLvVnFsOo9T1LPHXWIPk6Ah2bYxb5jjc6C7-vBI5arz0xAByDeg_PDZhzs1FRtQ2xqRvy] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Qantas plane grounded after window cracks Qantas's horror run of technical problems continued today, with a Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet grounded in Melbourne after a cockpit window cracked on a flight from Los Angeles. It's the second occurrence for Qantas of a cracked pane this month, the other occurring on a Boeing 737 domestic flight. The plane's first officer noticed the crack on the outside pane of the cockpit window of flight QF 94, which landed at 8.40am. "During the flight the first officer noticed a cosmetic mark on one of the windows on his side of the cockpit," a Qantas spokesman said. "The engineers went out and had a look at the aircraft and determined that it needed a window change," he said. There was no risk of depressurisation, the spokesman said. "It was the outer layer of the window, which are pretty dense structures. There was no safety risk during the flight," he said. The 239 passenger booked on the plane's return leg to Los Angeles were put up in Melbourne hotels and given dinner vouchers, ahead of their expected delayed departure at 1am. The airline said the recent spate of aircraft problems was not due to the industrial action imposed by members of the professional engineers' union, who have slapped bans on responding to out-of-hours calls. 'The engineers' strike hasn't really had an impact," the spokesman said. "There are only 190 of them [professional engineers] out of 5700 engineers, and the professional engineers aren't actually rostered on weekends and public holidays. So the only thing they do over the Easter weekend is on-call work ... but we have enough people to cover that." Last Tuesday, in the lead up to the busy Easter period, a Qantas 747 suffered an engine failure enroute to Singapore and was forced to turn back to Sydney. That plane had its engine replaced but a wiring problem meant it was unable to return to the Brisbane-LA run as anticipated. This was followed by two tyres on a flagship A380 Airbus bursting on landing on Wednesday. Telecommunications manager Peter Csorba was on that flight and said Qantas' recent problems had rattled his wife's confidence in the airline, with which she is booked to fly internationally. "Two days go with an engine failure, and now these tyres, and every month something happens with Qantas, this you don't hear from other airline companies," he said. "It's just getting too much, every month, something." Qantas yesterday said there was no pattern to the problems. "It's just a case of unfortunate timing, they've all been separate issues, different problems," its spokesman said. "I wouldn't...couldn't...really say it was anything systemic, but it's certainly and unfortunate series [of incidents] and we're obviously not happy about it and we're very apologetic about it to our customers." Source: theage.com.au Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Govt watchdog backs FAA whistle-blower WASHINGTON (AP)- Federal officials partially support the account of a whistle-blower who charged that regulators helped American Airlines avoid grounding planes that had improper electrical wiring. Safety inspector Douglas E. Peters testified before Congress about the Federal Aviation Administration's oversight of American in 2008, when problems were spotted with the way electrical wires were secured on the airline's MD-80 aircraft. He said his bosses helped American keep using planes that didn't meet safety standards. Documents released Thursday indicated that the Transportation Department's inspector general agreed with Peters that American was violating federal standards. The inspector general concluded that FAA was within its power to let American keep using the jets while it sought a second opinion about the wiring. But it said the decision created the perception that the FAA was helping American avoid grounding planes. The report was released Thursday by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that investigates whistle-blower complaints. The counsel said it found the inspector general's report "reasonable," and forwarded it to the White House and Congress. The FAA is considering a fine against American that could run into millions of dollars, according to government officials familiar with an ongoing investigation. American officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. They have said safety was not jeopardized and that the violations dealt with improper spacing of clamps used to secure wires. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAA investigates JetBlue JFK tailstrike The US FAA is downloading the digital flight data recorder of a JetBlue Airbus A320 that experienced a tailstrike on departure from New York's JFK airport in gusty crosswind conditions on the evening of 28 March. According to the preliminary incident report, JetBlue flight 217 (N646JB) returned to the airport and landed without incident. An FAA spokesman tells ATI that damage was limited to scrapes on the tail and damage to drain pipes used to direct waste water away from the aircraft. Pilots of flight 217 had radioed to controllers that the aircraft had veered to the right "very rapidly" on lift off, indicating that perhaps the landing gear had struck a bird. Another JetBlue aircraft on the ground at JFK however had radioed the tower and independently confirmed that Flight 217 had experienced a tailstrike on rotation. Wind that evening was gusting to 29kt in a direction largely perpendicular to Runway 22R, the departure runway. JetBlue could not be immediately reached for comment. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103270845366&s=6053&e=001ADQxSBjG7JXAclb6PMnsmwXxPsnmrN9HqqCDv_S3nNFiQ7gmlYmNMjUCQw2tKnEszgzgjC0OSBQarZzWU_AEVEVPA6B96OYi] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spanair crash prompts FAA best practices list The US FAA has created a specific website that directs airline officials to a large number of documents and studies the agency says can be considered best practices in the areas of checklist design, training, procedures, crew resource management and error trapping. The action comes as a result of initial findings from an August 2008 crash of a Spanair MD-82 on takeoff from Spain's Madrid Barajas International airport. "This investigation in ongoing, but initial findings identify the need for safety improvements in carrier operations," says the FAA in an Information for Operators publication released earlier this week. "Consolidation of the numerous resources which provide information and guidance on air carrier operations and procedures, including checklist design, facilitates the use of these resources." Preliminary reports from the Spanish authorities have indicated that the pilots failed to carry out the required flap and slat position checks before departure, and likely attempted to take off with the high-lift devices stowed. The aircraft failed to gain lift and crashed off the departure end of the runway, killing 154 of the 172 passengers and crew on board. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC